Chatfield man takes plea deal in child molestation case
Photo illustration: courts and crime / MGN
(ABC 6 News) – A Chatfield man accused of repeatedly molesting a 10-year-old girl took a plea deal and was immediately sentenced to 30 days in jail Tuesday, May 8.
According to court documents, a 10-year-old girl told her mother that 50-year-old Joseph David Fohrman abused her on three occasions in 2020.
The child and her parent reported the alleged incidents to Fillmore County law enforcement in April 2021.
Fohrman entered a plea deal in March, in which he pleaded guilty to 5th-degree criminal sexual conduct–nonconsensual sexual contact in exchange for a maximum executed sentence of 30 days in Fillmore County jail.
Two additional charges of 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Fohrman entered an Alford Plea, a type of guilty plea wherein a defendant maintains that they are innocent, but admits that the court has sufficient evidence to convict them of a crime.
Fohrman received a sentence of 30 days in jail to be served in the next three months, a $900 fine and $100 restitution payment, according to online Minnesota court records.
An additional 335 day sentence was stayed for the duration of a three-year probation term.